the "everything" bike..

Anonymous

Actually, when I snapped a swingarm several years ago (big crash, BIG), I got a new swingarm fitted next day, with no hassle at all. They didn't even mind that I had triple-clamp Junior Ts fitted to it which were a good 40mm longer travel than the OEM manitou X-vert forks!
Couldn't walk for weeks, but at least I could hobble over to my repaired bike and smile
That's why (for those keen eyed among you) my original wolf ridge is black all over, instead of having that weird mango orange swingarm.

I asked for clarification when I last got bearings fitted, and they said it's for as long as you own the bike - so the only restriction is that you have to be the original owner.

Northwind

That were by way of being a joke

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

That were by way of being a joke

That's fair enough, but some "lifetime"guarantees do have strange clauses.
For example, some bike companies will deem the "lifetime" of a frame to be 5 years, or some other arbritrarily chosen number of years.
So a lifetime guarantee from devious buggers like that actually means only 5 years - go figure!

Northwind

All of my lifetime warranties last til I lose the receipt, which I do instantly.

Anonymous

Now, I didn't even get asked for anything like that, see!
I've had a handfull of bearings fitted over the years, about 4 sets I reckon, and I've never been asked for proof of purchase. Guy in the shop just said it didn't matter, they were lifetime guaranteed, and that was that.
All he had to do was send them the frame number - to prevent him just getting a load of bearings in and selling them on I suppose.

paul.skibum

I still think there is an arguement for the all rounder bike to be something like a Blur 4x or a Spesh Supercross - short travel but tough full sussers - the Supercross was one I looked at as my fun do anything bike before I got my old heckler frame.

supersonic

Short and tough makes sense - but what? Orange ST4? Blur 4X maybe more to the point.

Tommy1234

Im going to buy a new bike in a week or so and this has given me a lot of food for thought. Its kinda confused me more:)

bomberesque

ride_whenever wrote:

Ti456 over the evil sovereign, run with 29r rebas up front...


Really does ride like a DH bike apparently....

my evil sovereign will eat your Ti456 alive BWAHAHAHAHAHA

My sov with the wheelbase extended (slidey 2pos dropouts) and the pike dialled out to 140 is easily DH capable, at least as DH capable as it's current pilot anyway :roll: Still not super slack (67 iirc) but enough to let you hang it out far enough t hurt yourself I had considered putting a Talas 36 on it for shits and giggle, but Evil say 140max (although now I think about that I might email them to see if thy'd "let me"

and SS, we had this conversation on a club ride recently. rough and tough 120mm could be the future. 140 bikes do seem like too much sus at times (mrs B is actually embarrassed to ride her 575 around our local woods) and a bottomless 120mm design will give you a LOT of cushion while a remote propedal/lockout can give you that platform to mash out of the saddle on. One of the UK mags ran an article recently suggesting that 4X bikes are, unwittingly, the perfect trail centre bikes. Now, of course, we're talking about "do anything" which includes but is not restricted to trail centres, but makes an interesting alternative. Seems not to be the way the industry is going though (witness the Revelation going to 150mm this year.... following hat the talas 32 did in '09, dunno about other developements though)

it would be interesting to see what Brant would come up with given free reign and a rear sus specialist to help out. His ideas on geometry seem to be ploughing their own furrow.

Anonymous

bomberesque wrote:

Still not super slack (67 iirc) but enough to let you hang it out far enough t hurt yourself

Well, you could hurt yourself going mad on a 50 quid bicycle shaped object. That doesn't mean it's DH capable :roll:

Honest to god, your hardtail will not be ANYTHING like a DH bike. Stop fooling yourself.

bomberesque

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Honest to god, your hardtail will not be ANYTHING like a DH bike. Stop fooling yourself.

My, we're in a combative, I know better than everyone else mood today aren't we?

I didn't say it was the same as a DH bike, I said it is DH capabale. And it is. I overtook rental 8" DH bikes in Are this year (and was overtaken by others), part of which is an ex WC DH course. And, despite your implication, I have ridden DH on a made for purpose DH rig so I do know the difference.

Anonymous

I'm not combative, I just don't suffer fools gladly.

ride_whenever claimed the Ti456 "rides like a DH bike", then you chimed in and said that your sovereign will "eat it alive"

Neither of them are DH bikes. Honestly. They're not.

as for

I know better than everyone else

YOU are the one claiming to have overtaken DH rental bikes. WOW, you must be awesome, I wish I was just like you.
:roll:

bomberesque

ride_whenever wrote:

Really does ride like a DH bike apparently....

so you're saying that you're jumping on my head for a comment that I ended with BWAHAHAHA (clue, indicates I was being fasecious and possibly a little bit jokey) in a comment (above) where R-W says something is "apparently" so (meaning that's what he's heard.

and we're the fools.

fine, I get it. No I do

engage your sense of humour, please. Sorry if I wasn't obvious enough for you.

and I accept the criticism about the rental bikes I was merely trying to show that there is overlap in all things. Unlike your posts there's rather a lot of self effacing going on in mine and in others. You have a tendency to ignore that and hone in on the 4 words that give you the longest lever then roll your eyes at everyone.

good luck with that, we're just shooting the sh1t about bikes here

dot1

if we take the next left, go right at the roundabout and straight over the cross roads, we should get back on topic....

ride_whenever

Actually it was from the WMB review of it. I have never ridden a DH bike so i wouldn't like to comment.

Anyway, on topic:

I think as with all things it comes down to the rider. The fitter and stronger they are the more travel they can lug up the hill, because at the end of the day adding an inch of travel to a similarly built chassis will increase the weight. (Although now someone will come up with an opposite example)

A lighter more skillful rider can ride less travel down the hill without breaking it but equally probably climb more technical terrain on the shorter travel bike.

So it depends on for whom the everything bike is for. Some can get away with a whippety 4" bike, others can get away with a 6" monster. The cool kids 8) ride steel hardtails with big forks and the really cool kids ride steel singlespeed xc bikes..

likewoah

Are 4X bikes really any good for covering long distances?

Anonymous

one with two wheels, ffs you can't do DH on an XC bike unless you hammer it, go slower, and that's not the point, you with fuck ya wheels in. on the other hoof a DH bike is not gonna climb is it..unless you think you are some kind of super human able to get up a hill on a giant glory.

homers_double

Just get a Heckler and be at one with awesomeness.

Seriously (check mine in the riders rides) its the best bike I've ever owned.

supersonic

This is why I asked the DH question lol.

zero303

Well I gave as I was quoted completely out of context earlier. Referring to DH and flat singletrack... although I do ride proper DH courses on my trail bike (my Saracen )...

guilliano

OK..... dream do it all build:

Cove Hummer frame
Rockshox Revelation U-Turn fork
Hope Pro 3 hubs on Mavic XM819 rims
Hope Tech X2 183mm brakes
Full Shimano XTR gearing
Shimano XTR cranks
Hope headset
Easton Monkeylite carbon bars
Thomson Masterpiece stem and seatpost
Fizik Gobi Saddle
Shimano XTR pedals
SRAM PC991 chain

I'd consider the same build on a Santa Cruz Blur LT (alloy rather than carbon) as a second bike....... although I like the idea of the HT better